D.I.Y. Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour: Mock Better Batter

If you’ve come here looking for all purpose gluten free flour blends, you’ve come to the right place. Even though I had long sworn off of blending my own gluten-free flours, I’ve come around entirely. I even created a bunch of infographics with my best all purpose gluten free flour blends, including this one, for easy at-a-glance reference. I got interested in creating these all purpose blends when I started testing all of these commercial blends. It inspired me to “hack” Better Batter to make it into pastry flour that works like Cup4Cup, and lots more.

But know this. You will need a digital kitchen scale. Without precision, you may as well just dump the whole thing right in the trash. The mock mixes I found out there all were in volume measurements. And when I tried using them as written, I failed four separate times. And I have the gummy breads and muffins – plus others that sunk- to prove it. Go on, ask my kids. They’ll tell you.

*Now I know that many of you are going to want to tell me about how you buy your rice flour from your local ethnic market, and it’s plenty fine for you. Or that you grind your own. Or something else entirely. But if you want consistent quality without making a federal case out of it, you need to buy your superfine flours from Authentic Foods. This is a family place. Heavy-handed comments will be moderated.

Directions

Place all ingredients in a large bowl, and whisk to combine well. The pectin should be used without the calcium packet. Store in an airtight container at room temperature until ready to use.

The recipe can be halved or used in multiples easily. Just be sure to whisk fully in a large enough container.

Notes:

Use of lower quality ingredients than those to which I have linked in this post (including the xanthan gum and pectin!) will result in a markedly lower quality product, one that does not behave at all like mine. Proceed at your own risk.

Measure using a digital kitchen scale. There aren’t proper volume equivalents for some of the ingredients.

The total cost per 140 gram cup of this D.I.Y. blend is, conservatively, $1.80. The estimate is conservative since it only accounts for shipping costs on the flours from Authentic Foods of $0.12 per cup. Shipping is typically much more expensive than that.

Love, Nicole

P.S. Time for my public self-service announcement. I hope you’ll buy a copy of My Cookbook because it really, really helps. I love you.

[…] expensive mix for something I know I can do better. So here are the fruits of my tinkering. I used D.I.Y. Better batter for my gluten-free all-purpose flour. Nicole from https://www.glutenfreeonashoestring.com has some […]

[…] almost one half cup!Don’t make me cite chapter and verse of those stats. Get a scale, and measure by weight, not volume, and nobody gets hurt.Mistake #3. You threw together “some flours” since you read […]

The only reason I ever blend my own flours, is to say that it’s organic. I am loving Better Batter but I really wish there could be an organic option. Non organic potatoes contain a lot of pesticides =( This should also be part of most peoples healing journey when going gluten free.

Baaba

April 17, 2012 at 12:17 PM

Being GF in West Africa has been quite challenging. I am not but my hubby is and I’ve thrown a lot of money down the drain while experimenting. One shop started bringing in GF pancake, waffle, muffin and brownie mixes but one box of mix costs more than a 500g of fine rice flour. I’ve enjoyed learning to blend my own flour and so far it has worked beautifully. I don’t have a lot of choices with different flours here. Except for brown and white rice flour, I’ll have to grind my own flour in order to totally avoid contamination. I make quick breads every Sunday and he thoroughly enjoys it. It’s definitely expensive but totally worth it. We got a Blentec flour mill from Amazon and I’m dying to try it out. Any idea how fine the results are? I haven’t gotten around to buying a step up to regulate the voltage yet. Next step is to get a dehydrator.

[…] for years, now. It’s my everyday flour. I buy it by the truckload. Last week, I told you how to D.I.Y. something very close to the original. But it costs almost double, and it’s a bunch of work. No thanks. I’ll […]

Kristy B.

April 15, 2012 at 4:34 PM

Just got all my stuff together and made this, plus a batch for my mother in law. I’m pretty excited……I bought a kitchen scale for the occasion even :)

I blend and grind my own flours and it seems to work out ok. It has taken some time to figure out where to buy the component parts in bulk, but it really is better than the local alternatives. I can see how it can be more expensive, but it is less for me. Your recipes have turned out fabulously in any event.

Jennifer Tilton

April 13, 2012 at 2:52 PM

I tried the DIY flour blends too. They ARE expensive, messy and storage hogs to boot. And they made my celiac teenager gag. I actually stumbled across a gluten free flour mix at Walmart (of all places) that is produced in Salt Lake City and works like a dream in your recipes. I used it last Thanksgiving for the sweet pastry…loved it! It can be ordered online at http://www.augasonfarms.com and it looks like you can get the product at Amazon, too. It’s fairly inexpensive and not GRITTY.

Kristi

April 13, 2012 at 11:41 AM

Ah, ok. Good info. I may be able to get Authentic Foods flours here at a store. I wil check into it. Thanks! Timeshare…I will share my thoughts with you.

Kristi

April 13, 2012 at 11:18 AM

Hi Nik, lots of work went into this. Thank you. So I have a question. I really like C4C for making your sourdough and a few other things. Is this DIY more like C4C, Better Batter or Jules? Or was your intent to make one DIY that really served all purposes? Or do you plan to hack this DIY to make a bread flour or pastry flour like mix? This DIY is still less expensive than C4C! Thanks! In Vegas with the family. We are leaving today and I am ready to go! I have had enough. We did rent a time share for the week at the Marriott so I have a kitchen. But I miss GF homemade bread. I will be whipping up some sourdough tonight!

This DIY blend is based upon the mock Better Batter mix out there, Kristi! I do plan to hack Better Batter, but I don’t plan to use this blend as the starting point since I don’t plan to make this blend again once I have used up the component rice flours and starches I currently have on hand. I would love to hear about your time share experience! We are thinking of doing that when come to California in July. :) xoxo Nicole

Hi, Dina, I only researched this DIY blend so readers have options. I don’t blend my own otherwise, and I find Better Batter | Gluten Free Flour to be the best “all-purpose.” Others are better for some specific purposes (like Cup4Cup for pastry), but I am workign on hacking Better Batter to make it even better for specific purposes. You might want to follow my testing of 4 flours on the blog.

Sharon

April 13, 2012 at 8:32 AM

I massaged my white and brown rice flours… How does one judge if they are superfine? Living in England ordering from Authentic ain’t an option. Being able to buy in quantities bigger than 500 grams is barely an option, unless I go to the Indian grocery. Then transportation and storage is an issue. My New York apartment had more closets and storage space than my suburban London house. So how do I determine if I’ve got superfine or standard ?

Hi, Sharon, If you are milling them yourself, I doubt you are able to make them superfine. It just refers to how fine the grain is after milling. Superfine flours are almost like flour dust. I haven’t tried it, but I know a lot of U.K. readers use Dove plain GF flour and like it a lot, if you’re interested in trying a blend. xoxo Nicole

Nicole, I just pulled out your cookbook yesterday to make rice pudding. For the first time ever, I made rice pudding that was creamy even after it was cold, and it’s all thanks to you and your arborio rice recommendation. I added a few drops of orange blossom water, too, because I just got a bottle for Ramos Gin Fizzes, and that bottle will last years.

Farida! It’s so nice to hear from you. :) I haven’t made that rice pudding in ages, but I absolutely adore it. Thanks for the reminder! xoxo Nicole

Holly

April 12, 2012 at 7:41 PM

I would much rather use pre-mixed even though stores in my area carry these mixes, but I can’t tolerate potato, so I have to mix my own and substitute. It’s a lot of trial and error depending on the recipe what substitute I use.

Is it okay that I really don’t want to mix my own flour? I would much rather trust Better Batter than go through all the work. I’m not a complete purest, I really do love baking and making food from scratch, but mixing my own flours is more work than I’m willing to do at this time. I admire those who mix their own, they are the super-heros of Gluten Free World, but me, I’ll settle for being the side kick this time around. ; )

Oh, JoAnn, it’s not only okay. I’ll join you there. And I personally don’t think you have to blend your own flour to be a superhero. I have zero plans to go forth blending my own all-purpose flour! xoxo Nicole

Anneke

April 12, 2012 at 4:49 PM

I’m with you, JoAnn! No mixing my own flours here, either. So glad Nicole introduced me to Better Batter, that and some Jules and I feel pretty well set. Kind of reminds me of the days when I could have made my own baby food — I admire those who do, but not interested in doing it myself.

I mix my own flours because I like my blends better. Of course, I spent a year (and countless dollars) developing the first one, so it’s not like I recommend it! I package and sell them now. The one thing I learned about cost per pound is that you don’t save any money unless you buy 25-pound bags. The first two I bought took me two years to get through. 50 pounds of flour is a lot! And the brown rice flour needed to be frozen so it didn’t go bad. So I’ve had lots of freezer space devoted to flour for years. Maybe that’s not so practical for home use. But at least I had some emergency calories on hand in case of a zombie apocalypse. At any rate, I’m glad you’re exposing the myth of the frugality of making your own blends!

I go through about 50 pounds of flour every couple of months, but I’m not a good guidepost. :) Yeah, to get good prices, you really do need economies of scale. If you’re not making it for sale like you are, Gina, DIY is just plain pricey! xoxo Nicole

Hi! Enjoyed reading your post on mixing flours. I have tried Better Batter in a few different things with good results, including your recipes, but I do enjoy making my own flour for most things. I actually use your recipes more than I use the better batter and then sub in my batter…it has worked for nearly everything! (Your blueberry coffee cake is a favorite around here…except I sub walnuts for the blueberries.) I agree. You absolutely MUST use superfine flours, or you are going to have the dreaded gummy, heavy, dense product in the end. I am very lucky and can get Authentic Foods Brown Rice flour and the Sweet Rice flour at a local grocery store that has a very up-to-date Health Market located inside. So I get the bag for $13 and no shipping costs!! But I will tell you that the guy who owns the company WILL sell to you in bulk. I am working on getting a business up and running, hopefully by summer, and was in contact with him via e-mail a few weeks back. Not sure on pricing or amounts yet as I need to call him. I wish my local Asian market carried the rice flours I need…they do not have brown rice flour! But I can find cool things like sweet potato starch that you usually don’t see on store shelves. I also leave the xanthan gum out of my main batch of mix as I use a little more in some recipes than in others. And I always use the ABSOLUTE least amount necessary that’s required to keep the product together. The less you have, the more the end result will taste more like a wheat-based treat.

I notice you have a small amount of potato flour in your mix as well. I tried making a mix in the past that contained just a small amount of it, and I found that it didn’t work as an ‘all-purpose’ mix. My pancakes came out very gummy. Maybe I’ll try yours and see how it works!

Jan

April 12, 2012 at 12:54 PM

Hi! What a great post! I started off buying pre-mixed flours, but here in Canada there weren’t that many options. The ones I found all had tons of different bean flours, which gave chocolate chip cookies a weird, beany aftertaste. I finally started making my own, after I got over the shock of the costs of them! I have found the mix I made (loosely taken from a recipe I found on a glutenfree website) works cup for cup, and makes bread, cookies and muffins that are almost indistinguishable from real wheat flour. It’s taken me 2 years to perfect, which means lots of money spent on products that went directly to the trash, but it was worth it for me!!!

Fascinating, Nicole. I know superfine is expensive, but I’m a fan of Authentic though I hate the shipping costs.

I like that throughout all your testing and making this blend that you’ve used only certified gluten-free sources for flours and additives. Nothing like paying all that money for flours only to find out the source for some flours might be cross contaminated, and thus you have to ditch the whole thing.

Just saying. And to that end, thank you for the links in the recipe for the mix. It helps to know good sources for getting the right stuff.

And if I am counting correctly you are going to have more than 17 flours hanging around your kitchen pretty soon, girlfriend. : )

I’m really glad you weighed in, Lisa. I know that you have a ton of experience with all these different flours – way more than I do. And yes, I would never feel comfortable buying any flour from an ethnic market or from large bins in a store, or anywhere else that doesn’t certify the gluten-free status. Oh, and I refuse categorically to count the number of flours (especially with all the blends I am testing) I have in my home. Along with my 100 pounds of Better Batter “extras.” I’m afraid you might be right, but it’s a temporary situation. ;) xoxo Nicole

Lisa, I tried to comment on your blog post but I couldn’t get it to verify that I’m a person. The little game with the tomato just wasn’t working for me! I like all the research you did for that post. It’s very comprehensive. Thanks!

Gina – oh dear. it should just be a drag and drop. did that not work? pesky captcha! but thank you for the kind words.

Naomi – absolutely true. I forgot about that. I remember back about contamination in wheat sources from China and India with regard to dog food and treats (I make my own, also gluten free). I feel like folks should pay very close attention to where their flour is sourced in order to make extra sure it is certified GF for their own safety and well being.

Thanks for bringing that up – really good info.

And Nicole – good point about the grocery store or health food store bins. Cross contamination is a big problem because no one keeps them clean enough or separate enough to guarantee that they are totally GF. In our Whole Paycheck, brown rice flour in the bin is right next to barley or something not GF. Oops.

Ive always mixed my GF flours. I have the luxury of living near stores with huge selections of GF flours in bulk which keeps the cost really low, about the same per cup as your boxed mixes. While when you can’t do that you have to buy online, it can definitely be more expensive. I began ordering online from a wholesale organic grocery, azure standard, and buy my organic flours in 5-10 lb bags which gets the cost REALLy low and I can tailor my blends to include whole grains, and different flours per recipe.

Anonymous

April 12, 2012 at 10:48 AM

I’ve been blending my own flour, but I’ve never figured out the cost per cup, I should dod that. I might be spending more to work harder. :)

Is there a good substitution for Tapioca Starch? I cannot get my GF hands on it in Panama. I usually sub with Mizana (corn starch) but not certain if this is altering the end result. FYI – I wish (read sigh) I didn’t have to blend flour, but alas GF in Panama is hard to come by.

Hi, Tammy. Arrowroot starch is a great replacement for tapioca. My body does not tolerate tapioca (neither does my thyroid), and arrowroot was my only other option…can’t do corn either. I make my own flour blend and have used either the arrowroot or the tapioca and have the same outcome each time. Hope that helps!

Miranda

April 13, 2012 at 4:24 PM

Trish_Everything I have read so far says starch is starch is starch. except for a slight tast difrence. I havent seen anything to prove difrent so far. You should be able to switch between any starch cup for cup. I have a list here somewhere that tells substautions for gluten free ingreadients…. may have to dig it out and clean it up.